A catastrophic fire day in Victoria

On January eight, twenty twenty-six, Victorian authorities warned of a catastrophic fire rating for the following day. The Country Fire Authority said conditions would be the most dangerous experienced that summer.

Fiannuala Morgan stays in Castlemaine

Fiannuala Morgan, a lecturer in publishing and communications at the University of Melbourne, encouraged her parents to leave their property outside Castlemaine, a town of about seven thousand people. She stayed in town.

Everything fails at once

By nine o'clock the following morning it was thirty-one degrees. When a ferocious hot wind arrived, the power went out. Fiannuala's emergency app froze, and she could not call or text her parents.

Patchy signals, no information

Fiannuala could call her brother in Melbourne, who updated her using the VicEmergency app. She walked uphill seeking reception and watched smoke turn the sky orange. Her car radio failed when the Mount Alexander broadcasting tower burned.

Finding her parents in chaos

Fiannuala drove to find her parents sheltering at a friend's house. They had patchy mobile signals and could not access emergency apps. Sometimes their phones worked, sometimes they did not.

The grassfire destroys Harcourt

Emergency warnings to shelter indoors were issued for nearby Harcourt. The fast-moving grassfire would eventually destroy sixty-six dwellings. A wind change turned the flames away from the larger town of Castlemaine.

Networks have not been strengthened

Fiannuala has warned that the communication networks supporting bushfire warnings have not been adequately strengthened. The rollout of the NBN, retirement of copper-wire landlines, and shutdown of the three G network have left communities dangerously unaware.

“not been adequately strengthened”

Black Summer exposed the failures

The royal commission after the Black Summer fires in twenty nineteen to twenty meticulously dissected how telecommunications failed, mostly due to power outages. Communities were left without access to crucial emergency information.

Vince Di Pietro's mission begins

Vince Di Pietro, a former naval aviator and ex-chief executive of Lockheed Martin Australia, lives in Nowra on NSW's south coast. In December twenty nineteen, weeks after the Currowan fire, he was asked to coordinate the recovery effort.

The Currowan fire's devastation

The Currowan fire burned for seventy-four days between November twenty nineteen and February twenty twenty. It destroyed hundreds of homes and took three lives. Thousands of people were stranded on the highway, unable to leave.

Why people could not evacuate

People could not buy petrol because ATMs were down. They could not call relatives from pay phones because mobile phones were flat, coverage was patchy, and they did not know numbers by heart.

The critical infrastructure problem

Between December nineteen, twenty nineteen and January thirty-one, twenty twenty, one thousand three hundred ninety telecommunication facilities were impacted by bushfires. Half experienced outages of four hours or more. Power outages caused the overwhelming majority.

Twenty-six community information hubs

The Shoalhaven resilience project created twenty-six community information hubs built into existing council buildings. Each has solar and battery power, can run off a generator, and has satellite voice over IP phones.

Two million dollars in funding

The community information hubs were built thanks to a two million dollar state and federal grant. Shoalhaven City Council renewed its telecommunications contract with Pivotel. In its first year, Pivotel's internet services cost around one hundred seventy thousand dollars.

Digital piazzas for emergencies

The hubs have information screens inside and outside buildings controlled by the local emergency operational controller. During emergencies, screens switch to red mode displaying tailored information. Screens can display codes to unlock satellite phones and access instructions.

Lessons from Lake Conjola

Vince hopes the hubs will help if fire returns to Conjola. In twenty nineteen, residents had no warning, no road out, no power or phone lines. Vital information about the water supply failing did not reach people.

Community awareness remains low

Whether residents know about the community information hubs is up for debate. Council minutes show that last year, three of four community clubs said they had not heard the information screens could be used for promotion.

Wider rollout and other initiatives

After the Shoalhaven hubs were rolled out in twenty twenty-three, several ministers toured the site. At least one other NSW council plans to replicate the system. Other communities have CB radio networks and private funding for solar upgrades.

Mandatory backup power is needed

Independent MP Helen Haines introduced a private member's bill to oblige Optus and Telstra to provide twenty-four hours of backup power to mobile towers in high-risk areas. About three thousand two hundred mobile network sites would require upgrades.

Preparedness cannot be left to individuals

Fiannuala is critical of the piecemeal approach, which relies on individual effort rather than shared responsibility between government and industry. Research shows disadvantage compounds one's ability to prepare for and survive natural disasters.